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Welcome to all the new subscribers since last month.
Contents Part 1 - Welcome! Part 2 - Recommended Read Part 3 - Products / Special Offers Part 4 - Feature Article - How our relationship with ourselves impacts on others Part 5 - Media Interest Part 6 - organizations Part 7 - Support For Partners Of Workaholics Part 1 - Welcome! [Back to Top] Dear Recovering Workaholic, Welcome to this our seventh newsletter for Recovering Workaholics. Firstly I would like to thank you for signing up for the newsletter which is published on a monthly basis. From next month we hope you will receive it in the first few days of the month. It has been another busy month for Recovering Workaholics. The information leaflets have been designed and printed. They have been distributed to libraries, HR Departments, Occupational Health Organizations etc. If you know of anyone who would be interested in receiving some please let me know by contacting us on info@recoveringworkaholics.com The first three of our CDs are now available via the web site at www.recoveringworkaholics.com/cds.php and and we intend to have them available for direct download soon, but more of that later. We have also been hard at work with our noses to the press and are pleased to announce that the book How YOU Can Manage Your Staff More Effectively (And Pave The Way To Your Next Promotion) (featured as our Recommended Read) together with the companion volume Kick Start Your Career can be ordered via our web site at www.recoveringworkaholics.com/books.php. This helps with questions like:
In the last issue we looked at the major drivers on life. In this issue we will consider the way relationships with ourselves impact on the relationship we have with others. Consider your relationship with yourself and you will have taken the first steps towards "creating a life you love"! Gina Gardiner Recovering
Workaholics Part 2 - Recommended Read [Back to Top] How YOU Can Manage Your Staff More Effectively (And Pave The Way To Your Next Promotion) by Gina Gardiner Offers lots of practical strategies for managers to help get the very best of their staff as individuals and as a team. Everything in the book has been tried and tested in a variety of organizations; it is a distillation of over 30 years experience of developing leadership at every level. The book does not attempt to teach grandmothers or grandfathers to suck eggs, but offers tried and tested principles, strategies and ideas which have been proven to work. Time, energy and money are all very precious resources and all three seem to be in short supply for most busy managers. How YOU Can Manage Your Staff More Effectively (And Pave The Way To Your Next Promotion) Can help! Dip into it if you are facing specific issues or use the comprehensive approach to underpin ongoing and sustained individual and team development. It has relevance for experienced managers who want to share good practice and for aspiring leaders who want to develop and deepen their leadership skills. The book covers a wide range of issues including
How YOU Can Manage Your Staff More Effectively (And Pave The Way To Your Next Promotion) will stand alone but you will find it useful to use it in conjunction with the companion book Kick Start Your Career. This book is designed for new initiates into the business world and graduates who are ambitious and want to create a successful career for themselves. It is a no nonsense, jargon free manual, full of practical ideas and strategies to support the development of leadership from day one. These books can be ordered via our web site at www.recoveringworkaholics.com/books.php.
Part 3 - Products and Special Offers! [Back to Top] The three new CDs that we mentioned last month are now availabe to buy from www.recoveringworkaholics.com/cds.php. We we have produced them especially for you to tackle the most common problems that seem to affect many of our members. They are available as CDs and will soon be available as downloadable MP3 files.
| Relaxation CD 1 - A Spanish ThemeTake time out of your busy and stressful day to relax. True relaxation is known to reduce stress levels, lower blood pressure, clear the mind and leave you feeling alert, refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of your day with renewed energy and vigor. "A Spanish Theme" uses a mixture of guided imagery and deep breathing exercises to take you on an intensely relaxing journey. Stress is sited as the cause of over 500,000 days of absence a year in the UK alone. It represents a huge cost in both economic and personal terms. In order to deal with it we must first understand what it is and what causes it. Where stress is detrimental people are often in situations where they feel they have little control. Sustained exposure to such negative situations can have serious implications for the health and well being of the individual and ultimately for the organization as a whole Relaxation is a powerful tool to combat stress. Learning to take time out, to truly relax has been proven to lower blood pressure, improve mental acuity and reduce stress. Our Relaxation Tape with a Spanish theme is the first in a series of relaxation tapes created by Gina Gardiner associates. Using
visualization, guided imagery and deep breathing
exercises take time out of your hectic day
to unwind, de-stress and relax!
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Beat Insomnia CD - Retrain Your Sleep Pattern Without DrugsSleep is vital to our health and sense of wellbeing. We need it as much as we need food and water and the air we breathe. It is during sleep that the body rests and repairs itself. Good quality sleep leaves us feeling refreshed, re-energized and ready to face the new day. Insomnia affects most people at some time during their lives. For many it is a passing phase caused because of a stressful event in their lives. For chronic sufferers it becomes a way of life. Although it is not life-threatening it can and does threaten the quality of life for many sufferers leaving them frustrated, exhausted and feeling low. "Beat Insomnia" uses deep trance techniques to help you retrain your sleep pattern without drugs. Use "Beat Insomnia" to get a great nights sleep and make Insomnia a thing of the past.
| Confidence Building CD - Creating the Confident YouWe all feel less confident in certain situations. This CD is designed to help you feel confident in any situation. It uses tried and tested NLP techniques to help you develop the confidence you need to tackle new social situations or when gicing an important presentation or interview.
Developing confidence is about much more than learning to do an activity better. It is about changing how we feel about ourselves and dealing with our thoughts and beliefs. It is about facing the things we fear and being curious about why we fear them. Use "Creating the Confident You" to learn to push through the fear and create a world of limitless possibilities one where you are in control of your own destiny. We expect the following titles to be available later in the year.
For any further information or advice about CDs contact info@recoveringworkaholics.com or phone 01708 703959 Part 4
- Feature Article The relationship we have with ourselves is based on a number of things, our genetic make up and hormonal and chemical balance – (nature), how we are bought up – (nurture) and on our interpretation of all our experiences both positive and negative, throughout our lives. Every experience we have is filtered through our senses and through the set of principles by which we measure any experience. Let me give you some examples. You are in a park. It is a beautiful day. A large hairy dog comes galloping up to you, tongue lolling out. Do you think “What a great dog, isn’t it friendly?” or “Oh no, that great brute is coming for me, look at its huge mouth …!” You are in the same park sitting on a bench enjoying the sunshine. A stranger comes and sits next to you on the bench. They say “Hello” and try to start up a general conversation. Do you think “Friendly person” and make general conversation with them or think “What do they want? Must move away as I feel threatened”. Neither response is better or worse than the other but how you respond to outside experiences with make a huge difference to what you expect out of life, the way you live and enjoy your life and the sort of relationships you create with others. It is important to understand that you can radically change the relationship you have with yourself if you choose to do so. Patterns of belief which have run the way in which we behave can be changed quite radically. It is actually a matter of conscious choice. We can create our dream life or live a nightmare existence or anywhere between the two. To exercise choice you need to be very clear about what you believe and the impact that has on the way you behave. To do that you need to audit the status quo honestly and to decide which parts are serving your needs well. Once you identify the things which are working well you can protect them and use them as a model for other positive beliefs and behaviors. Once you identify those old beliefs and patterns of behaviour which do not serve your best interests you can face them, deal with them and create more positive and productive beliefs and behaviours in their place. You may think that the process sounds simplistic and unlikely but I guarantee that it can be done by anyone who has a real desire to improve their life and their relationships. You may find it easier to have the support of a life coach to help you navigate through any stormy waters. The relationship you have with yourself has a huge impact on your relationship with others. Any partnership is really a combination of three relationships. The first two being relationship which each individual has with themselves. The third is the relationship the two people have with one another. Whilst I am going to focus on personal relationships the principles hold true for us in a professional context too. At its best, a truly loving, interdependent relationship makes us more than we would be as separate independent people. It is based on the principles of win-win. Both parties have a commitment to look for the best way for both parties – they will look for solutions which facilitate growth and trust. The relationships are built on mutual trust and respect and communication is open and ongoing. At its worst a relationship can be destructive, where power and control play a major part and where there are always winners and losers. Partners constantly strive to get their own way and see giving in as a sign if weakness and defeat. Communication is often sparse or built on misunderstanding. People use the same words but mean entirely different things. For many people their relationship exists somewhere in the middle ground. There are times when it is great, but that at other times tensions surface and difficulties are experienced usually around particular themes. Common ones are money, the way one partner treats and values the other, life style and health, work life balance, trust and fidelity (perceived or otherwise). This list is not definitive and often couples have issues around multiple themes which are interrelated. An example would be concern about work life balance and health. Partner A feels that they spend too much time alone because partner B spends too much time at the office. They feel neglected and unloved. At the same time they are worried about how stressed their partner is and the fact that they drink too much and are carrying too much weight. If you want to truly understand the relationship with your partner and understand how to make it work even better, you need first to understand the relationship you have with yourself and then need to be open to understanding the relationship your partner has with themselves.
Take some time out to think about the times you have felt really good about yourself during your life to date. Are there any common patterns? Consider
the following statements and decide if they are: • I feel best about myself when I’m at work • I feel best about myself when I’m in social situations • I feel best about myself when I’m in private situations at home • I feel best about myself when I have drunk alcohol • I feel best about myself when I feel I’m in control of the situation • I feel best about myself when I feel I am needed • I feel best about myself when I am doing something for other people • I feel best about myself when I am winning • I feel best about myself when other people notice what I am doing and say well done • I feel best about myself when other people notice what I am doing and say thank you • I only believe I am doing a good job if other people notice and tell me • I always feel physically attractive and good about my body • I believe in myself at all times – I don’t need others to tell me I’m doing well • I believe in myself in the work place – I don’t need others to tell me I’m doing well • I believe in myself socially – I don’t need others to tell me I’m doing well • I believe in myself within my special relationship – I don’t need my partner to reassure me all the time • I’d really like to have a special relationship but I’m not attractive / good enough
If our sense of self worth is generated more by external verification than by an internal sense of self worth then there is a constant need to be recognized, praised and thanked. When this is achieved it feeds the need for more recognition because it gives us pleasure. When it is not forthcoming it creates a sense of failure and lack of self – esteem which is potentially destructive. Like
all things we need a balance between the extremes.
If you are entirely self absorbed and consider
yourself perfect in every way it is highly unlikely
that you will be the perfect partner, employee
or boss. Creating a strong sense of self worth and confidence with a desire to be even better is the ideal. Determining our strengths, learning to love ourselves for who we are – wobbly bits included as a fantastic starting point to creating a wonderful life. If you feel your sense of worth could do with an overhaul – a rebalance, you may find working with a life coach helpful as there are lots of approaches which are tried and tested and could save you much time and effort. In the next newsletter we will continue the theme and look at how you can identify the beliefs which are limiting your potential happiness and what you can do to change them for ones which are more useful. You
might find it useful to work with a coach on some
of these issues. If you would like a free 30 minute
coaching session to explore how you could improve
the relationship you have with yourself contact
me on info@recoveringworkaholics.com Part 5 - Media Interest [Back to Top] The media continues to feature the issue of work life balance and the huge cost both personally and economically when the balance is out of whack. There
is a growing recognition that failing to deal
with the culture of long hours and constant pressure
is simply storing up problems for the future. Part 6 - Organizations [Back to Top] EFFECTIVE DELEGATION Done well – delegation can free managers to lead and think strategically with a positive impact on productivity and efficiency. It offers a wonderful opportunity for professional growth and the best use of time and resources. Many managers talk about delegating to their staff but in reality delegation can often have very mixed results. Managers approach delegation in a wide range of different ways. There is the:
And so many more. Is it any wonder why managers have little time for strategic thinking and management and why time is wasted, stress levels grow higher and staff feel demoralized and de-motivated in some organizations. If you would like to improve the delegation within your own team you will find How YOU Can Manage Your Staff More Effectively (And Pave The Way To Your Next Promotion) sets out the principles of effective delegation in a clear, jargon free way. By following the process you can be sure that delegation will be done in a positive and empowering way freeing managers up to manage more effectively. Create a Life You Love We are running a course for senior managers at IBM this month. It combines a one day course with a series of three coaching sessions. The focus is on managers managing their personal work life balance. There is no suggestion that they need to be workaholics indeed it is designed to ensure that they create a life where they work hard and live well. By modeling good practice they will in turn promote a healthy work life balance for their team. If
you world like to know more please contact us
through info@recoveringworkaholics.com
or through Part 7- Support For Partners Of Workaholics [Back to Top] There is now a monthly Newsletter designed for the partners of Workaholics. This can be accessed by going to www.recoveringworkaholics.com/partners.php. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. If there are any topics you would like covered in future issues please let me know on info@recoveringworkaholics.com or complete the feeedback form at www.recoveringworkaholics.com/enquiryform.php. What do you think? Warmest
wishes, ******** Creating
a good work life balance is vital for long term
If
you would like support to achieve this, visit
For any further information or to discuss your coaching needs contact info@recoveringworkaholics.com or phone 01708 703959
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